Vermette&Co

Hardwood vs. Vinyl Flooring

2010-05-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

Building a house? Renovating?

Considering Hardwood floors? Considering DARK hardwood floors??

Well then READ on my friend!!

I thought I LOVED hardwood floors. I mean they look amazing! We didn't build our home, this is how it came, and to me it was one of my favorite features of the home...how I would have done it if we had BUILT it ourselves! The AMAZING cappuccino hardwood floors! I loved the contrast of them against our light maple cabinets, and almost white carpets. I fell in LOVE with these floors.

...Well let me tell you, that lasted about a week!!!

We had a puppy when we first moved into our home COOKIE...

here she is all cute... on the hardwood floors

She would go outside to do her business and come back in with mud caked onto her little paws, and get it all over my floors.

I learned very quickly 2 things. 1. The floors SUCK and are terribly hard to clean. 2. It was time to say goodbye to our puppy - who I miss to this day! (there were other reasons for her departure besides her messy paws)

I find the only way to clean them is to first remove any dirt, spills etc with a damp cloth or mop. Second use the BONA spray and mop... third get down on your hands and knees with a microfiber cloth and dry the floors, leaving them streak free and beautifully clean!! HA!!

Not even kidding, it takes me about 45 minutes to clean my floors - and I only make it to the second step before I am completely tired.

And really - 45 minutes. I have a 3 YEAR OLD! It takes 2 seconds after those 45 minutes to dirty them right back up again!!!!!

SO...once these floors have had it VINYL is going in. YES you read right!! VINYL!

WHY???

Easy to clean

They make "hardwood" looking vinyl (my neighbor has them & they look awesome)

They can handle spills

Are waterproof

Will not shrink and expand with the weather... and let's face it we are in Winnipeg.

THAT HAPPENS A LOT!!

So if you are still on the fence... C'mon over and take a look at my floors yourself. And then check out my neighbors...tell her I sent ya!!!

May Long Weekend

2010-05-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

a little late...but better than never!!

We usually don't get away for May long weekend, because of bad weather, or having a gallbladder removed, or whatever. But we didn't want to let this weekend go to waste. With the gorgeous weather we were able to make last minute plans and head to Minaki Ontario to a beautiful little cabin resort right on the lake.

Ava ready to go on the boat

Shawn with his line in the water

Ava pretending to fish with her princess fishing rod

cheese

first and only catch - a pike

hanging out on the porch

a beautiful Minaki night

Huskie the Muskie in Kenora

Oh Ava

2010-05-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

My sweet Ava. I love her so. She is 3 years old going onto 18. She loves to play with all my makeup. In fact while I was out one day she thought she would color her face with lipstick...daddy cleaned it up before I got home LUCKILY. But I imagine it looked something like this...

Maybe a little less SCARY!!

Either way she ruined a perfectly good compact of my very expensive Sephora lipstick...not too happy with that. But Sweet Ava told me "Ok Mom. I will listen. I will not do makeup without you." So funny! She can put on Mascara too...yowsers!!

I have decided that it is a good idea to put my makeup AWAY from now on. Although I am sure she will get into again. And then Maisa will get to be old enough to get into it too...soon enough :)

Ava also paints nails...rather well, so if anyone is interested in Makeup Application or Manicures or Pedicures just call for an appointment. She is booking fast!!

Hello Hello BABY you CaLleD I can't HeAr a THING!!!

2010-05-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

Oh how I LOVE LADY GAGA!!! And guess what..this tuesday GLEE is going GAGA. Check out the preview here LADY GAGA GLEE !!!

Set your PVRS!!!

Product Review

2010-05-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

I just bought the BABY TREND Sit N Stand Stroller and wanted to give my review of it!!

Pros

-Awesome light weight
-Car seat snaps perfectly
-Great for kids who want to stand up and move around a lot
-Easy to steer
-Easy to fold
-Fits in my car!!

Cons

-Storage basket is hard to access. It is large, but the openings are small.

All in all I love it though - was a good purchase and was only $130 at Target compared to $200 here at Toys R Us.
So on my books it is a 4 out of 5!!

Our Lil Trip to Grand Forks

2010-05-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was shopping in Grand Forks Day.

Highlites:

Baby Trend Sit N Stand Stroller $130 Target!!!
Buying a lot of cool jewelry
Having well behaved Kiddies
Eating at Golden Corral
Buying Ava her Toy Story Friends
Trying to help Maisa Poop - cuz that is always a good time ;)
Trying to make the new stroller look USED so I didn't have to claim it
Getting through the border crossing in less that 5 minutes, and without having to declare ANYTHING!!!

("Giddy up giddy up ridin' cowboy") as said by Ava in her best Andy voice!)

Oh POOP

2010-05-13T14:30:00.001-07:00

Poor lil Maisa

She is having a hard time POOPING!!
I just want to cry for her, her stools are
so hard.

Bought some prune juice, and I hope it will
work for her...until then I will be
assisting in the pooping process!

Bumbo!!!

2010-02-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

So I love these things right...but never thought of getting one with Ava, don't know if she was too big by the time I knew what they were, or I just couldn't justify spending so much on one! WELL I am into SWAPPING!! I looked on Kijiji and found some and then sent out a bunch of emails to the people selling them to see if they were interested in VINYL LETTERING!! Well it worked. It's actually a really good form of advertising too I might add :) And now I have a bumbo, This is also how I got my cuddly wrap!!

So happy!! I might also have a fisher price vibrating chair for Maisa...I will find out soon!! What else do I need?? Or want?? This is addicting haha!

Where is the MOTIVATION?

2010-02-16T13:50:00.000-08:00

I have a total of 26 days before I leave to Mexico. And a total of 10 pounds that I want gone - mostly my BELLY! Do you think I can do it... I sure hope so, but eating cookies, and turtles and yummy sugary snacks sure ain't going help me...

So here is my idea, starting tomorrow of course, because that is how any diet starts - starting tomorrow I am off the sugar, the pop, the bread and the dairy...or at least I am going to try :) what a cop out I know, but it is hard, especially when your addicted to the sugar.

I might also try taking something like hydroxy cut...if I can find the bottle I have of it!! AND OF COURSE...

WORKING OUT!!

I have been having a tough time with this also, that's where the lack of motivation comes in. I just don't have it. I don't know why either. Because usually once I start working out I do enjoy it. My goal is to get running a constant long run - lets say for at least half an hour. Right now I can do ummm about 3 minutes straight. That is embarrassing. Really.

Well here is to going from frumpy to fabulous!!

For Real this time...I think

2010-02-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

You don't even want to know how many times I have started a post, only for it to be saved in my drafts and NEVER be published. Well not today. I am going to publish this one!!

It has been such a long time since I last blogged, so obviously a lot has happened in that time. We are now a family of 4. Our little Maisa joined our family November 30th 2009. I will post more on her soon :) Ava is soon turning 3!! Only 2 more weeks, and at her request we are having a princess themed party. I have been busy as a full time mom, and a wedding photographer and also with my vinyl business. I love having creative outlets like these! Shawn is a multitasker as well. Right now it is his slow season, so he and I have actually been keeping ourselves busy helping out at my parents house. They have many projects happening, and we have been able to help speed up the process of completing these. Although I don't think any of them are DONE DONE...but we are getting close. I have been working with Simply Accounting, getting all the books in order for GREEN'S Cabinets Plus! A very fun job. Next I will be learning how to SPRAY doors in the shop!! I am looking forward to this!! Ava enjoys this as well, as it means a lot of time at Grandmas house. Plus it is nice to have meals made for you :) We like that!! So all in all we can't complain!! We are blessed in many ways with good families and friends.

26 Years Old

2008-05-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

Well i celebrated my 26th birthday May 11th, as well as my second mothers day! Hard to believe that i am already in my late 20's!! I enjoyed spending my time with my family, and we had celebrated the night before with a bbq that alot of our friends and family attended. After church on Sunday me and Shawn were able to take a nice drive out to Lockport, something i haven't done in years. We enjoyed a nice meal at Half Moon, although it was not as good as what i remembered it to be. We got home and had a nice relaxing evening.

At about 11pm though i started having this pain, i have gotten this pain three times before, and was even seen by a doctor the week before, and put on a waiting list for an ultrasound. The doctor told me if it happened again that i should go immediately to the ER. So i did.

The pain wasn't the worst that i have had, but i figured it would only escalate. So to the ER i went. I waited about 2 hours before someone would even see me... and then was poked with needles which was loads of fun, then waited another 3 hours before the doctor came in to tell me he would have the ultrasound tech call me to schedule something and off i went home...only to find out i got a parking ticket...NICE!!

So whatever the next two days i was fine, the ultrasound tech called and said they would probably have an opening Wednesday morning so to stay by the phone. So great. Well Tuesday night i was craving a brownie. So i made a batch up, and i can usually eat about half the thing in one sitting (I DON'T HAVE THEM THAT OFTEN!!) But i figured i would control myself and i cut myself a nice small corner piece. Not even 20 minutes later i was regretting this decision. So i took some Tylenol and prayed it would be ok. I went to bed with the feeling it wasn't over, but i hoped if i ignored it it would all just go away.

WELL That wasn't the case. I woke up feeling like i was being poisoned. I ran to the bathroom to throw up anything that i could, and I was going through fever and chills and i was in so much pain i wanted to die. I left right away for the ER. I ran a red light and drove light a mad person to get there as fast as I could. Once i was there i had to wait for what seemed to be forever for the triage nurse. I was balling my eyes out by this time because the pain was so unbearable i would rather be rearing a 15 pound baby.

About 45 minutes later i was in a room where they were trying to take blood but couldn't, and they wouldn't give me anything for my pain until they had my blood work done, but i was so cold that it took them forever to do it. I think i waited 3 hours and by that time my pain was almost gone. So i suffered through it all. Then finally when they did get my blood work they just put me one an IV drip with no meds, and i waited until the ultrasound was available.

Anyways to try to shorten my story i had the ultrasound it came back GALLSTONES, and INFLAMMATION of the gallbladder, no surprise. So i SURGERY to remove the gallbladder is what was going to happen - within the next 3 hours, which turned into 1/2 an hour, luckily i was able to see Ava 5 minutes prior, since after the surgery I would not even be able to pick her up.

So i had the surgery and was wheeled off for recovery. And i was feeling pretty ok. Lots of rest, and lots of MORPHINE!!! Which made me itchy, but i felt SOOO much better. Friday i was released from the hospital and we decided to go out to Shawn's moms house where we would have help with Ava. So away we went. About 2 hours after we got there i got an ATTACK... WHAT THE HECK?? Isn't this why they ripped that thing out? This lasted for about 2hours, and was the worst pain i have ever experienced, worse than any of my other attacks to because now i have 4 incisions in my abdomen plus this pain! FUN! A REAL TREAT!! So after it settled i tried taking some more medicine T3's, I ate and walked around. But i still wasn't feeling RIGHT. So i told Shawn i think we better go to the hospital here. So away we went again.

As soon as we got there i started having another attack, and luckily for me we were in Morden so i was admitted immediately and within about half an hour was given morphine. The pain was so strong that it took about 10 ml of morphine before i began to even feel comfortable. I was admitted to surgery recovery room where they would monitor me overnight. The thought was that i either had a gallstone left in there or it was just some after surgery pain because of the gas that is pumped into you.

I was given a drip of morphine, which i couldn't of been more happy about, i love morphine, in case that hasn't come across yet!! Although by the morning i was FEELING it!! I was a tad bit of my rocker!! Apparently calling Amie to tell her that because of the morphine making me so itchy i had scratched my nose so badly that the doctors had to put socks on my hands - this still makes me laugh - I DO NOT REMEMBER SAYING THIS NOR DID THIS HAPPEN!!!! I also attempted to feed Ava when Shawn brought her by for a visit, but kept on falling asleep, and spilling whatever food on her! These were a few of the bunch of dream like things i did or said that i barely or don't even remember!

Anyways i was released from that hospital on Monday morning, and I am feeling alright, as good as I can after all this. Luckily i have not had any more PAINFUL attacks, and i am recovering well!!

I cant believe how much Ava has grown up in this time, from not needing to be nursed anymore, to falling asleep on her own, and sleeping all through the night, and just the things she does, she has changed alot and i just love her sooo much more. I really missed her and Shawn while i was in the hospital and I am glad to be back home!

Hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I have enjoyed living it!

All kinds of STUFF!

2008-05-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well the past week my poor little Ava has been suffering with a really bad cold, fever and teething! On top of that i have been so busy with my vinyl I havent been able to pay much attention to her. And all she wants is snuggles. I hope she gets over this soon, i thought it was cleared up when she was feeling more herself monday, but she was pretty sick last night and today. At least today i have time to snuggle with her!! My poor baby!

Shawn has been busy trying to get our new satelite up and running, its a FREE TO AIR, so we are going to have a gazillion channels, and free PPV - just another distraction for me!! Im excited though, it will save us money in our budget!

Another exciting thing is we are getting a pool. An 18' round above ground pool. I want to teach Ava how to swim, so that will be a blast this summer, we will have MANY pool parties im sure - AND YOU ARE ALL INVITED!

Besides all that, i have just been super busy with MOTHERS DAY vinyl orders... its been really fun, and I have been creating alot o new designs that i hope to be able to have on my website SOON!! We had a craft night just this past friday, and that was a whole lot of fun!! Im going to have to plan those more often!!

Anyways thats all for now... i have to go clean house!! wish me luck!

ONE SMART COOKIE

2008-04-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

I compiled a list of words that Ava can say....so cute!!!

Hi
Hello
Bye bye
Mama
Dada
Papa (grandpa)
Meme (Amie)
DeeDoe (Chico - grandmas dog)
Mon (C'mon with hand motion to call the dogs)
No
Wee
Beep
Yeah
Puppy
Happy - just started this on Friday April 25th
Up
Mo (More with sign language motion)
Baby
Ba (Ball)
Nana (Banana)
TeeTee (Kitty)
Oww
UhOh
Boo Yeah...really funny!
Boo
Moo

I think that's about all i can remember anyway, she does copy alot though! But pretty good for only14 months old!! It was funny cause while at Grandma and Grandpas Pam said boo yeah, which she never really says but just did, and Ava said it right after. They didn't know she could say it, so they were quite surprised and we all had a go laugh!

Weekend away!

2008-04-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well this past weekend was spent with Shawns mom (Pam) and step dad (Henry) out in Winkler. Shawn was working on a project much to my dismay - but i now have his "permission" to go to Calgary because of it - he was spray lining his truck and pieces of his trailer. It looks really nice, but was a long process for him and Henry. Me and Pam stayed inside, only leaving the house once to make a fun trip to Walmart, where Ava was spoiled with a runners, a dress and house coat! Always fun! We had a good time as always visiting and watching movies while the boys played in the shop.

By Sunday Ava was starting to get too comfortable there and i knew we had been over too long She loves climbing up the stairs here, and finds every way possible to get around the barricade i make for her. I decided i would just let her go then, an maybe then she would see its not as fun when mom doesn't care anymore. However that backfired. Instead now she decided it would be fun stepping down the stairs too. Luckily i caught onto this and was right there to help her. The first step she took so fearlessly. Until she realized opps I'm going to fall. She flung her body around and managed to grab hold of the railing in time to catch herself. Then without hesitation again she took another step. Same thing. So there I am 2 steps below her and I'm freaking out, having mini heart attacks each time. WHAT IS SHE THINKING. 3rd step, same thing, only this time she actually falls, scares herself only enough to know she better hang on each time she goes down a stair. So that's what she does, and now shes walking down the stairs one by one. REALLY?!?!!? Well i took her off the stairs after this hoping that was enough, but NO she quickly got away from me and made her way back there. We do this about 10 times before i really have had enough, she starts to throw one of her tantrums that i just LOVE.

Then later on she was playing with the dogs and i guess realized that if she hit them lightly they would nip at her, and she actually LIKED this so she kept doing it. NOT GOOD. Some of the dogs were getting petty aggressive with her, so i had to take her away, then she would throw he mini tantrum and again leave go the same thing. I had to put her in her playpen after this....STINKER!!!

Its amazing how we can still love these little monsters even after they at like this, but all i want is hugs and kisses from her and to hold her close!

We had a really good time in Winkler, as we always do. But its also good to be home!

Kisses

2008-04-20T20:55:00.001-07:00

Ava has been getting cuter by the day! She has learned now in the past week or 2 how to give kisses. She gives them to me on the lips now, and says mmmmaaaaawwwhhh. Its so cute! She started off with only giving kisses to her baby dolls, and then kissing my legs for some reason while i would sit on the couch, and now on the face, and to everyone! It's very cute!

We were out at my parents house on saturday and Ava had so much fun in the yard walking around. She really enjoys being outside! I took her on the trampoline and at first sh was scared but after a few minutes she was having so much fun, until she was distracted my one of the dogs.

My mom i guess in one of our last few visits to her house must of shown Ava to call the dogs by tapping her hand on her leg or wherever so she remembered this and she calls the dogs that way - but usually taps her chest and says something that sounds like c'mon again very cute and sooo smart!

She just makes us so HAPPY and makes us laugh!! what next... i guess we will wait and see!

BORED = EATING

2008-04-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

Help me, i cant stop eating, because I'm SOOOO bored. Even though I'm not eating the WORST foods i could be, i am constantly eating. I am out in Winkler at my in laws watching the foster kids while they are having fun (probably buying cute things for Ava). Anyways there house is full of food, alot of junk food, but i think the worst thing i had was french fries... i have been tempted to pick from the cans of pop they have in their walk in fridge, that's right WALK IN! But i haven't had pop in a week now, and i am trying my hardest to STOP drinking it. Its hard because Shawn loves his Pepsi - but i want to be drinking WATER... ALL DAY!!

So even though i DID lose 3 pounds this past week, between a girls night, wedding reception and being here at the in laws i think i will be up 6 pounds...arghhh! Well i did get on the treadmill today, even if it was only for 10 minutes!! And i plan on taking advantage of the nice weather tomorrow!! Oh well i guess it will be BURN BABY BURN.... there is a trampoline here heheh!!

hating my house

2008-04-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

OK, so here's my problem we rent this house in Waverly heights, and we have had one problem after another. Our landlord is such a cheap ______ fill in the blank. I just hate living here. We have had all our appliances break in this house, and now they are onto round 2 of breakdowns. Have i mentioned that we have only lived here 7 months.

I have just been trying to catch up on laundry, and was on about my 3rd load for the day, when i heard the dryer buzzer go off. So i went downstairs and was going to load my clothes from the washer into the dryer when i realized it hadn't finished its cycle. So i checked it all out and realized that the spinner is not working! GREAT!! So now I'm really ticked off, stressed out, and want to hunt down my landlord. WHAT I'M I GOING TO DO? Our lease is up at the end of May so i am desperately searching for another home to rent, but some of the rental prices are so ridiculous i could be paying a mortgage on a 500k home - now does that make any sense?

I have called my landlords house now 3 times since finding out that the washer broke YET AGAIN - dif washer this time though, we only had this one for about 2 months IF that! But of course there is no answer - kay make that 4 (i blocked my # this time but still nothing) Well when i do get a hold of him he is going to get an earful. In the meantime i better go ring out my clothes and get them in the dryer! HOPEFULLY THAT STILL WORKS!

Spring Spring I heart Spring

2008-04-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

It is so nice to be having such great weather, and funny how people here in Manitoba become alive again after the long cold winter! Ava really enjoys going outside now, so i have blocked in our deck to make it safe for her to play on. She has a few toys out there and really enjoys it! I cant wait to see what she will be like once the snow is all melted and its not mucky, then she can play on the grass.

So with this nice weather comes thoughts of shorts, sandals and cute bathing suits. DUN DUN DUN... but I'm so BLAH! So as much as i love spring, I hate it because all these cute clothes come out and I CANT FIT THEM. Anyone else feeling the same??? Lets start a group. We can share great recipes, and health tips, weight loss goals and plans... Anyone up for a challenge?

MY goal is 2 pounds a week. I'm going to do this by daily exercise and healthier food choices...WISH ME LUCK!!

Stinky Breath

2008-04-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

So Ava has been sick the last couple of days, and i have noticed this strange smell coming from her. I wondered if maybe it was just something on her clothes, or something around her, but i realized that it was her breath. WEIRD. I brush her teeth, and still it smells. Its got this fishy smell to it, So if anybody knows anything about this please let me know...its kinda gross!!

What do you blog about??

2008-04-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

Okay so everyone else is doing this blogging thing, so i thought i would give it a try. I had fun picking a name for the site and a layout, and then i got to this part, WHAT do i do now!?!?! Oh well i guess i will figure it out!

Im going to tell you about our past week. We have had alot of fun! We had visitors in from Edmonton. Shawn's sister Shannon and her 2 daughters Breanna and Alyssa came in for a week. It was the first time we met Alyssa as she is only 5 months old. Ava sure enjoyed her, she would go up to her car seat all the time and crouch down to look at her and say Hi Hilo Hi Hilo. She loves saying that!

Ava definitely became a little party animal, being very sociable with her cousins. Her bedtime went from being 9:30pm to 1:00am. I was happy that at least she slept in!! But actually enjoyed the days because i could get things done around the house without Ava crying out for my attention. She should have been a second child, because she just loves playing with other kids... but anyways, she didnt bother me at all while playing with Breanna, my house was clean, i made breakfast, lunches and dinner...it was great. She even went down for her naps without a fuss because she was so tuckered out.

Well all good things have to come to an end. Our company had to go on, and Ava was left alone at home with boring old mom! So we went to the Zoo Wednesday with Gen and Jacob. Ava didnt seem too interested in the animals, but i had fun walking around, taking pictures and visiting. I got great pictures of Ava and Jacob together, they sure are cute kids. Jacob is 6 months older than Ava and me and Gen have a prearranged marriage set up for the two of them...what if hey? Anyways at the zoo... Ava fell asleep while walking around, then we went into the tropical building, and she woke up, so i was able to take her picture in front of the flamingos, it turned out really cute!! Later we went into the barn and Ava got to walk around, shes still abit wobbly, but she has so much fun being able to walk with Jacob and play better with him!!

The last few days Shawn has been pushing me to get things going with my business. So i have been downloading fonts...not exactly what he wanted, so today i kept busy with information to add to my website he is making for me http://www.thelittlevinylshoppe.com/ it should be up and running if im lucky by the end of the weekend. So thats step one, next will be advertising! I have been having fun with it though, i want to get ready for the farmers market in St. Norbert this summer!! YEAH. So as busy as i was today and yesterday Ava was completely bored and cranky. She wanted to be held or played with...these are the days that i would love for there to be another kid here for her to play with... oh well, shes cute so i guess i will keep her!!

Well thats pretty much it for my week. Loads of fun heh?